1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to air intake apparatuses for vehicles powered by an internal combustion engine, and more specifically to an air intake apparatus including elements for fluidly communicating cleaned intake air in the direction of the engine for combustion therein, an air filter element, and a case housing the air filter element.
2. Background Art
Any vehicle comprising an internal combustion engine usually features an air intake apparatus for supplying air to the engine for combustion. The air intake apparatus typically includes an air filter element serving to clean the intake air to remove debris in the form of dirt, water, sand, grit and the like from the intake air in passing through the air filter element which can build up therein, forming there a filter cake.
Such an efficient cleaning of intake air is especially needed on vehicles negotiating rough terrain, such as, for example, off-road competition motorcycles or so-called all-terrain vehicles (ATV). On such a vehicle, to maintain high engine performance, it is necessary to clean frequently the air filter element to remove the particles collected thereon. The cleaning is essential so that the pressure drop in communicating the flow of intake air through the air filter element is not substantially increased.
Known air intake assemblies employed on ATVs commonly include an air filter element arranged in a case located beneath the rider saddle of the ATV. The air filter element takes the form of an elongated cylinder having a coupling at the face side of the cylinder, for engagement with at a complementary-configured coupling on the case, the engagement often by means of a screw clip, whereby the known air filter element is screwed to the coupling of the case. When this known air filter element needs to be cleaned, first the lid of the case has to be removed. For this purpose the bolts securing the lid to the case have to be loosened by means of a tool, or fasteners clamping the lid to the case must be opened. Then, again by means of a tool, a screw coupling of the clip needs to be opened so that ultimately the air filter element can be withdrawn from the coupling in the case, and through the opening in the case formerly closed off by the lid.
A further known air intake apparatus features a cylindrically-shaped foam plastics member arranged on a support and disposed in a case housing the air filter element. Connection is by means of a screw extending along the longitudinal centerline of the cylindrical air filter element push-mounted in the region of a case on the air filter element via a correspondingly-configured coupling before being bolted by means of a tool. To remove the air filter element from this type of known air intake apparatus, a tool must be used to first unbolt the air filter element before it can be withdrawn from the case. Once cleaned, the air filter element then has to be reinserted into the case in the reverse sequence, and again by means of a tool the bolted fastener between the air filter element and the case coupling retightened.
The case in both instances is arranged beneath the rider saddle and a gap is provided between the case and the mudguards covering the rear wheels of the cited ATV. This gap results in debris such as dirt, sand and/or grit thrown up by the rear wheels gaining access to the case through the gap, quickly fouling up the air filter element.
Cleaning the air filter element on the cited known air intake assemblies is impossible without the aid a tool. Moreover, cleaning is time-consuming because every time bolts must first be loosened before, in a next step, the air filter element can be removed from its case. After the air filter element has been cleaned, it must be reinserted in the case in the reverse sequence and then the bolt fastener retightened.
It is on the basis of this that the present invention has the object of eliminating the above drawbacks. According to the new disclosure hereafter, there is provided an air intake apparatus for a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine which apparatus makes it possible to remove the air filter element from the case without having to use a tool, thus expediting cleaning of the air filter element.